Catch



Patented jan. 21, 1947 CATCH Martin Ostrom, Rockford, Ill., assigner to National Lock Company, Rockford, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application June 2, 1944, serial No. 538,350

l VThis invention pertains generally to catches and more particularly to spring catches adapted for use on sheet metal cabinets such as kitchen cabinets, for instance.

The primary purpose of my present invention is to provide a catch of this character having clamping or strike holding jaws which will possess greater resiliency or yieldability than has heretofore been attainable in catches of this character. This desideratum is secured by forming the jaws as reversely bent extensions of the side walls of a channel shaped body formed of resilient sheet metal, so that not only the jaws themselves, but the side walls of which they are extensions, may be utilized in affording yieldability for the jaws.

Another object is to provide a catch of the character indicated, which will be of integral construction, formed from a single piece of sheet metal and adapted to be mounted in the wall of a cabinet or the like .by simply introducing the same into a properly shaped opening formed in such wall, the catch ,being provided with selflocking means whereby upon insertion it becomes locked in position without the employment of tools or fastening means independent of the integral structure of the catch itself.

Other objects and inherent advantages of my invention should be readily appreciated from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a cabinet structure equipped with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the catch illustrated in Fig. 2, showing the catch only partially introduced into the opening in the cabinet;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the catch looking toward the right at Fig. 2, as indicated by the line 5-5; i

Fig. 6 is a perspective View showing the catch and the opening in the cabinet in which such catch is mounted; and

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken centrally through the catch and showing the strike in retained position.

Referring to the drawing more in detail, reference character 8 indicates generally the door opening surrounding walls of a sheet metal cabinet, such as a kitchen cabinet or a storage 6 Claims. (Cl. 292-17) cabinet for other purposes, and 9 indicates generally a hollow sheet metal door adapted to close such opening.

A catch which will engage a strike so as to snugly retain the door in closed position while providing for its yieldable release without the exertion of excessive pulling strain `must, of course, exert a substantial clamping effect upon the strike while providing sufficient yieldability to enable the strike to be inserted and withdrawn with the exertion of only a slight effort. In an attempt to meet these requirements, catches embodying long resileint clamping jaws have been devised, but the length of such catches precludes their use in many cabinets, because the requisite depth is not available, particularly where it may be preferred to mount the catch in the door and the strike on the frame, instead of vice versa. It may .be here stated that my catch is adapted for mounting either upon the door or upon the frame, as preferred, with equal facility.

It has also been proposed to strike outl or form the clamping jaws of the catch from the legs of a U-shaped frame in which the curve of the U forms the base of the clamping jaws. Since the entire resiliency'aiforded in a structure of this kind is that provided by the jaws themselves, it is manifest that, `if their length is restricted sufficiently to enable the catch to be mounted in such shallow spaces as are only available in some instances, the yieldability will be so diminished that either the clamps will fail to snugly hold the strike in closed position 'or considerable effort will be required to insert and withdraw the strike in the acts of closing and opening the door.

The catch of my present invention obviates the diiculties above mentioned and overcomes the disadvantages of both the long and short clamping arms as heretofore constructed, by providing a catch having short clamping arms requiring only a shallow space for the mounting of the catch while at the same time affording a resiliency or yieldability equal to that of arms at least twice the length herein employed.

My improved catch, as will be apparent from the drawing, is formed from a single piece of resilient sheet metal which is bent into channel shape comprising a base II and side walls I2. The base is provided with a central opening I3 through which the strike I4 may be introduced during closing of the door, and each side wall is stamped out to form a spring lockingtang I5, the free end of which normally extends outward- Cil a strike M. lThis strike is illustrated on the drawing as mounted on the door by having its shank threaded through an opening in the inner wall of the door. As previously stated, it is entirely feasible, however, to mount the strike on the door frame and the catch on the door, if preferred.

The catch is mounted on the door frame by simply projecting it into an opening of suitable shape formed in the front wall of the frame. From Fig. 6 it will be observed that this opening, designated generally by reference character I9, is substantially rectangular in shape and provided at the corners with parallel slot extensions 2| for the reception of the side margins of the side walls i2. The wall material between the slots of each pair provides in eiect opposed tongues or stops 22 projecting into the path of the side margins of the base i i so as to limit the projection of the catch through the openin-g. The manner in which these tongues serve to limit the insertion of the catch into the wall 8 will be observed from a `glance at Figs. 2, 4 and 7 of the drawing.

When the catch has been fully inserted, so that the base il is in engagement with the stops 22, the ends of the tangs I5 have passed through the wall 8 so that they are free to spring outwardly into the locking positions shown in Fig, 2, thereby preventing withdrawal or displacement of the latch from the opening. It will be apparent that, as the jaws I and the side walls I2 are sprung apart by the introduction of the strike (as exemplified by the dotted line normal position and full line clamping position of these walls and jaws illustrated in Fig. 2) the locking tan-gs are pressed into engagement with the inner face of the wall 8, whereby the latch is snugly retained in position and held against rattling. Y

It will be apparent from the foregoing that I have provided a catch which can be economically manufactured from a single piece of sheet metal and can be readily mounted on a metal wall by simply inserting it through an opening of proper shape until the base I I engages the wall, in which position it will be held against displacement by the spring tangs I5. The clamping jaws possess not only the resiliency or yieldability inherent in the metal of the jaws themselves, but in addition are bodily movable with the side walls I2, which possess as great resiliency or yieldability as the jaws themselves. It will be apparent, therefore, that these jaws possess a yieldability twice as great ,as that possessed by jaws of twice their length made of the same material. This yieldability permitsthe insertion and withdrawal of the strike with slight effort, thereby making it easy to close and open the door while at the same time serving to hold the door snugly in closed position.

The structural details illustrated and describedmay be varied within considerable limitswithin 4 the scope of my invention as dened in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A catch comprising a channe1 shaped body oi' resilient material, the base of the body being provided with a strike receiving opening and the side walls thereof being reversely bent to provide resilient clamping jaws projecting in opposed relation from the free edges of said walls into proximity to said base to receive and yieldingly retain a strike inserted through said opening.

2. A catch of integral construction formed from a sheet of resilient material, shaped to provide a base, a pair of side walls projecting in substantial parallelism Vfrom said base, and a pair of clamping jaws consisting of reversely bent extensions of the free ends of said side walls, said jaws terminating in proximity to said base and shaped to receive between them and releasably retain a strike projecting through an opening in said base.

3. A catch formed from a sheet of .metal to `provide an apertured base, resilient side walls projecting from said base and equipped with resilient tangs for securing the fastener against displacement from an opening in a metal wall, and strike receiving and retaining jaws consisting of extensions from the free edges of said side Walls reversely bent to project in opposed relationtoward and into proximity to said base.

4. The combination with a cabinet metal wall provided with a catch receiving opening, of a sheet metal catch disposed in said opening and comprising a base disposed outside said opening, side walls integral with the base extending through said opening and provided with securing means engageable with margins of said opening on the inside face of said wall for securing the catch in position, and strike clamping jaws projecting in opposed relation from the free edges of said side walls toward said base.

5. The combination with a metal structure having an opening shaped to provide opposed inwardly extending stops, of a catch formed of spring sheet material to provide. a base, walls projecting therefrom and clamping arms extending from the free edges of said walls and bent re versely so as to be disposedv between and substantially parallel with said walls, said catch being disposed in said opening with the side walls projecting through said metal structure and the` base engaged with said stops, said walls being provided with spring tangs projecting'outwardly in position to engage said structure and hold said catch against displacement therefrom.`

6. A catch of integral construction formed of tempered sheet metal providing a base, `a pair of side walls projecting in substantialparallelism from said base and adapted to be projected through an opening Yin a wall upon which the catch is to be mounted, and apair Yof strike holding jaws formed as reversely bent extensions of said side walls, said jaws being disposed be-` tween and extending from the free edges ofv said side walls` toward said base,V saidv side walls being provided with spring means to engage the inner face of said wall for securing s aid catch against displacement from said wall opening,

MARTIN osTRoM. 

